A Heart Sutra Journey | Part Eleven

"NO EYE, EAR, NOSE, TONGUE, BODY, MIND; NO COLOR, SOUND, SMELL, TASTE, TOUCH, PHENOMENA;
NO REALM OF SIGHT, NO REALM OF CONSCIOUSNESS;"

There are other ways to organize phenomenological interactions aside from the Five Skandhas. Another common one used by the Buddha was the Eighteen Elements (dhatus), which were divided into the Twelve Abodes and the Six Sense Consciousnesses. The Six Sensory Abodesand Six Domains make up the Twelve Abodes, called such because they are dwellings for our attention. They and act in pairs: the sense organ and the domain in which it functions. Thus eye perceives shapes, ear perceives sounds, and so on. Each is a discrete path except mind - which can conjure thoughts and thus perceives the effect when the other sensory abodes come in contact with their domain. Through these pairs, everything we experience is fashioned. Each of these pairs has a corresponding consciousness which arises when the abodes come in contact with the domains. Through this matrix, we can explain specific states of awareness and consciousness by showing it to be a combination of these triads:

Six Sensory Abodes
(indriya)

1. Eye

2. Ear

3. Nose

4. Tongue

5. Body

6. Mind

Six Domains
(vishaya)

1. Shape / Color

2. Sound

3. Smell

4. Taste

5. Feeling / Touch

6. Thought / Phenomena

Six Consciousnesses
(vijnana)

1. Eye-consciousness

2. Ear-consciousness

3. Nose-consciousness

4. Taste-consciousness

5. Body-consciousness

6. Mind-consciousness

Although Avalokitesvara abridges the Six Consciousnesses, the reference is clear.

Lest one think these Eighteen Elements as self-existent - Avalokitesvara now also declares them as empty. The self, no matter how elegantly constructed or explained, is completely empty in the light of Prajna Paramita. When the concept of self is swept away, what appears?

See the full text of the Heart Sutra at: https://oneriverzen.org/heart-sutra